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Kitty Pryde
Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat, is a member of the X-Men and a faculty member at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Background The only child of Carmen and Theresa Pryde, Kitty had a very normal, mundane upper-middle-class existence for the first thirteen years of her life in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. She performed well in school, took ballet and karate lessons and went to Synagogue services with her parents every week. It was in and around the time of her thirteenth birthday that things became very strange. It started with headaches that soon grew in to terrible migraines, which often caused her to black out- she would go to sleep in her bed room, and wake up in another room in the house with no memory of getting up to go there. It was thought that this was simply her body's reaction to the stress of her parents' constant fighting and impending separation. This theory was proven wrong when the Prydes were contacted by Charles Xavier. Kitty, they were told, was a mutant; her "blackouts" were the result of her power, the ability to pass through solid matter, manifesting. He offered Kitty a place at his school, where she would be given the opportunity to learn to control her powers and use them responsibly. It took some convincing, but the Prydes agreed that it would be the best place for Kitty until she learned more control. What the Prydes didn't know, however, is that they were sending their daughter to live with a team of superheroes. Superheroes that Kitty would come to idolize and want to emulate in any way possible- even if that meant designing her own (horrible) costumes and stowing away on missions in attempts to prove herself to her teachers. The fact that Kitty managed to stay in the good graces of her soon-to-be team mates instead of being expelled was a small miracle. Perhaps they recognized the gifts that the young woman possessed, predicting that she would be useful to the team as she grew older; or maybe they just figured that it would be safter to keep her around where they could watch her and keep her out of trouble. It was on one of these missions that she befriended a small, alien dragon-like creature with whom she developed a very close bond. Lockheed, as she soon named him, followed her back to the school, and the two have spent very little time apart since. Like many young mutants, Kitty proved to be something of a magnet for trouble, even when she wasn't serving as an X-Man. For instance, thanks to her father's well-intentioned but ill-informed dealings with a yakuza mob boss, she had a run in with a telepathic demon by the name of Ogun, who brainwashed the young mutant into his protege, implanting an entire lifetime of training and skill into her mind. With the help of a team mate, she was able to overcome Ogun's influence, but the skills and knowedge remained. After this life-changing event, she took on the codename Shadowcat. It was as Shadowcat that she truly came into her own as a member of the X-Men, serving as a part-time team member while attending classes at Empire State University. She's recently graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering, and has returned to Xavier's, and to the X-Men. Personality Kitty is kind of a dork. A sci-fi-loving, computer-hacking, D&D-playing nerd of the highest order. Amazingly, despite this particular skill set, she's managed to develop some social skills along the way. For a girl who can walk on air and spent months in a giant bullet hurtling through space, she's quite down-to-earth and approachable. In her younger days, she struggled with with self esteem issues regarding her body and appearance, but has grown into a young woman confident in both her abilities and appearance. She's not the type to get "full of herself," but has jokingly referred to herself as the "Goddess of computers" once or twice, though she's been known to humble herself with the occasional self-depricating joke as well, just to keep things nice and balanced. Kitty has always had something of a temper, but as she's grown out of the hormonal teenage years, it has... mostly come under control. She's not about to take to storming out of buildings declaring her mentor to be "a jerk!" anymore, but when the right buttons are pushed for long enough (namely, putting other people in danger, racism, sexism, most any sort of -ism) she will fly off the handle. Whether she simply goes into one of her famous Kitty Pryde Speeches or just unleashes a little whoop-ass depends on the situation. Powers Intangibility: Kitty possesses the ability to pass through solid matter by passing the atoms of her body between the spaces between the atoms of the object or substance she is passing through via magnetic repulsion. The process in which she does this is called "phasing," and for all intents and purposes she is entirely intangible while using this ability. She is able to phase through both solid objects as well as living beings. She passes through matter at the same speed in which she was moving before encountering it. Since her power manifested, she has always been able to phase her clothing along with herself. As her control over her abilities grew, she learned to extend her intangibility to objects and other people she touches, though the more mass she phases, the more trying it is on her. She must maintain constant physical contact with the person or object in order to maintain the effect. If contact is lost, the person or object will re-solidify. Airwalking: Her intangible form allows her to "walk on air," which could be considered a limited form of flight, but she can only move at speeds she would be capable of moving if solid and running/walking on solid ground. To gain higher altitude, she must manually "climb" thin air or be propelled by an outside force (being thrown by a team mate, for instance) prior to phasing herself. Electrical Disruption: If Kitty phases through an object with an electronic system, such as a computer, the magnetic repulsion that allows her to phase will disrupt the workings of the object, causing it to either cease working, or to malfunction in some unpredictable way. Skills Technology: Kitty has a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Empire State University. On top of that, she has a natural talent for programming, hacking, building and repairing just about any type of computer. She also has experience with some advanced/alien technology thanks to her time with the X-Men. Martial Arts: On top of the psychic "training" by Ogun, Kitty has trained since she was thirteen in various martial arts styles ranging from karate to krav maga. She's developed something of her own unique "style," taking the techniques she finds the most useful from the various schools she's learned. Dancing: From childhood to well into her teens, Kitty took regular ballet lessons. While she doesn't dance very often any more, her training often shows itself in the fluidity in which she moves in hand-to-hand combat, as well as her balance. Languages: Thanks to psychic "lessons," and from tips from friends and team mates, Kitty speaks fluent Japanese, Russian and German. She also learned some Hebrew during the classes she took prior to her Bat Mitzvah, but she's the first to admit she's far from fluent in it. Boons X-Men Member: As a member of the X-Men, Kitty has access to the team's advanced technology, financial support, and backup should she find herself in a situation requiring it. Lockheed: Standing at two and a half feet tall and weighing in at a mere 20lbs, Lockheed might not /look/ like much of a threat, but the little purple dragon packs quite a punch, capable of flight and breathing fire. He also possesses some low-level psychic abilities that allow him to understand spoken language, even if he can't speak himself. Flaws Phasing Limitations: Phasing through denser materials is more difficult for Kitty, and, in some cases painful. If, for instance, she were to phase through adamantium (such as Wolverine's claws or skeleton), the process would be quite painful and would leave her feeling queasy for a time afterwards. While passing through solid or liquid matter, she is unable to breathe, and thus can only phase through it for as long as she can hold her breath. She has trained herself using techniques similar to those of "skin divers" to learn to hold her breath for longer periods of time (generally about two to three minutes, her current record is just over three). It is worth noting that if she were to solidify (or allow anyone else to do so while phasing them) inside any form of solid matter, it could result in serious injury, or even death. Temper: Kitty is no feral, nor is she particularly quick to anger, but when she /is/ set off, it's truly something to behold. Where other X-Men might be physically dangerous when upset, Kitty relies more on words and insults- and sometimes her words are just as regrettable as a thrown punch. Stubborness: Once Kitty has an idea in her head, she's either going to carry it out, or someone is going to have to physically stop her- not an easy task considering she can be literally untouchable when she wants to be. And, while she's certainly an intelligent girl, not all of her ideas have been the height of genius- especially when driven by emotion. She also holds a grudge like no one's business, and is not terribly quick to forgive those who've wronged those close to her. Overconfidence: Nearly untouchable with a lifetime's worth of genuine ninja training in her brain, Kitty's cockiness in the field certainly has a basis in reality and experience. She's not one to disobey orders, but she will often take risks that others might not, counting on her skill or powers to keep her safe. This leads to some rather unfortunate consequences when she's faced with something she /can't/ phase, hack, or fight through. Logs Including Kitty Pryde 2010-07-18: Mechs Over Manhattan: When Jean Grey is attacked by giant robots, Cyclops and Kitty Pryde fly in to the rescue. And encounter with a stranger with a familiar look. Zandra Thorne also stars. 2010-07-29: Assemblies Clash: Kitty attempts to keep twin protests from turning violent, and encounters a mysterious stranger. 2010-08-20: Future Politics: Kitty learns about the plans of the mysterious man Lucas Bishop, just as the stakes turn higher Category:Taken Feature Character